Happy Birthday Windows.

[Wraith]

Microsoft Windows turns 30 years old!

It's 30 years of Microsoft Windows, now for some that may seem unbelievable but for us oldies who have moved from OS to OS throughout our lives we remember them fondly, OK some not so fondly but we were there. So as a mark of respect for our beloved operating system lets take a look through the annals of time and space and reminisce about much easier times, so lets start at the beginning.

The development of Windows began in 1982 after a fresh faced Bill Gates saw "Visi On" a GUI designed for IBM PCs at the COMDEX Exhibition, que dollar signs and cher ching sounds! :lol: and didn't our Bill do well.

30 years in one thread this should be good, so i'll stick to Title, Year & System requirements (for the laugh) all requirements are minimum with some recommended specs thrown in.

Windows 1.0, 1985.

System Requirements:
Monochrome or Colour Monitor.
MS-DOS 2.0.
Two double-sided disk drives or hard disk.
256K of memory or Greater.
Graphics-adapter card.

Windows 2.0, 1987.

System Requirements:
Monocrome or Colour Monitor.
MS-DOS 3.0
One Floppy-disk drive and hard disk.
512K of memory or Greater.
Graphics-adapter card.

Windows 3.0, 1990.

System Requirements:
Colour Monitor.
MS-DOS 3.1
One Floppy-disk drive and hard disk.
640K Conventional Memory.
256K Extended Memory.
Graphics-adapter card.

Windows 3.1, 1992. This is when it got serious for me and the PC addiction took hold, I was only 11 years old at this point and obcessed with DOS codes.

System Requirements:
Colour Monitor.
IBM compatible 286 or higher (386 recommended).
640K Conventional memory.
256K Extended memory (XMS v2.0 or higher).
1024K Extended memory recommended for 286 and 2048K for 386.
5.25" or 3.5" Floppy drive.
Hard drive with 6 megabytes free (10 megabytes recommended).
EGA, VGA, SVGA or XGA compatable video card.
IBM compatible Mouse. (yes a mouse! a 2 button pointing device that had a ball in it.)

Windows 95, 1995.

System Requirements:
Colour Monitor.
Intel 386DX or higher (486 recommended).
4 MB of system memory (8 MB recommended).
3.5" or CD-ROM.
50 - 55MB of hard drive space.
Sound card.
VGA, SVGA compatible video card.

Windows 98, 1998. (Windows 98 is in my opinion the greatest OS Microsoft ever made which just got better when they improved it with the Windows 98 Second Edition)

System Requirements:
Intel 486DX2/66 Mhz (Pentium recommended).
16 MB of system memory (24 MB recommended).
500 MB of hard drive space.
VGA, SVGA video card (640x480).
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
Sound card.
Microsoft Mouse.

Windows ME, 2000. (The less said about this monstrosity the better, it was terrible)

System Requirements:
Pentium 150 MHz (Pentium II 300 MHz recommended).
32 MB of system memory (64 MB recommended).
320 MB of hard drive space (2 GB recommended).
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
VGA, SVGA video card.
Sound card.
Mouse or compatible pointing device.

Windows XP, 2001. (Now this is what we had been waiting for, many happy times with this old faithful OS)

System Requirements:
Pentium 233 MHz or higher (300 MHz recommended).
64 MB of system memory (128 MB recommended).
1.5 GB of hard drive space.
CD-ROM drive or compatible.
SVGA video card (800 x 600).
Sound card.
Keyboard & Mouse.

Windows Vista, 2007. (Ooopsy it's all gone wrong again, at this stage I think we all started to see a pattern imerging)

System Requirements:
800 MHz CPU (1 GHz recommended).
512 MB of system memory (1 GB recommended).
15 GB of hard drive space.
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
SVGA video card.
Keyboard & Mouse.

Windows 7, 2009. (All hail the king or not, you decide, I was quite fond of seven)

System Requirements:
1 GHz 32-bit CPU (1 GHz 64-bit recommended).
1 GB of system memory (2GB recommended).
16 GB of hard drive space (20 GB for 64-bit).
DVD-ROM drive.
DirectX 9 Compatible GPU.
Keyboard & Mouse.

Windows 8, 2012.

System Requirements:
1 GHz CPU or greater.
2 GB of system memory (4 GB recommended).
20 GB of hard drive space.
DirectX 9 Compatible GPU (DirectX 10 Recommended).
Keyboard & Mouse.

Windows 8.1, 2013 This is exactly the same as Windows 8 as far as specifications go, but it's worth dropping in here as it was the place holder for many until the recent release which brings us right upto date with what we have now.

Windows 10, 2015.

System Requirements:
1 GHz CPU or greater.
2 GB of system memory (4 GB recommended).
20 GB of hard drive space.
DirectX 9 Compatible GPU (DirectX 12 recommended).
Keyboard & Mouse.

So we have arrived at the end of our travel through the iterations of Windows through the ages, I now find myself thinking back and I wonder how many of you are remembering the IRQ settings for 16 bit sound blasters or trying to get a game pad to work, the terrible screams of our modems, huge CRT screens, cleaning the fluff off the mouse rollers or maybe that last floppy disk that was corrupt. Fun times.

Well what do you guys think? I had a blast looking back at the previous operating systems and thinking back to much simpler times, what are your memories of Windows, when did you begin your journey, let us know in the comments below and Bon Anniversair Windows 30 years young.

~Wraith~​

 

[jimma47]

I think (hope!) you meant 'annals' of time and space....

 

[cooperman]

Which was your first OS?

MS-DOS 3.1

 

[Warchild]

Microsoft started going through a tick tock process of good and bad OS versions

win98(good),
win2000 (bad),
win xp (good),
Win vista (bad),
Win 7 (good),
win 8 (bad to most but was good for me),
win 10 (awesomesauce).

 

[AlienALX]

98 was awful. The first edition had an unskippable internet set up screen where you were forced to pay for Microsoft's internet lmao. IE - unless you paid them you weren't getting on the internet !

It was only with the much later SE that they sorted it all out.

Windows 2000 was exceptional. Without it we wouldn't be where we are today (and the hackers that originally got DX 8 working in it).

Vista? yeah at first it was terrible. Now though? I actually really like it. It's like a posh looking XP and works brilliantly. The only mistake Microsoft made was releasing it onto PCs that were nowhere near capable of running it properly.

7 was really good, but has become bad. It does not support more than 4 cores and the only fix is a core parking bodge. It also doesn't work properly on any I7s, as well as the entire AMD range. Microsoft could have fixed this, but simply couldn't be bothered because they want you on 8 spending money in the marketplace.

So far I prefer Windows 8 to Windows 10, but there's a long time to go yet before I make up my mind.

Must bust a mention for Windows Multiple Errors though.

 

[Doomslayer]

Microsoft started going through a tick tock process of good and bad OS versions

win98(good),
win2000 (bad),
win xp (good),
Win vista (bad),
Win 7 (good),
win 8 (bad to most but was good for me),
win 10 (awesomesauce).

Really Windows 2000 bad come on i think you mean Windows ME not 2000, Windows 2000 was Awesome i miss Windows 2000.

98 was awful. The first edition had an unskippable internet set up screen where you were forced to pay for Microsoft's internet lmao. IE - unless you paid them you weren't getting on the internet !

It was only with the much later SE that they sorted it all out.

Windows 2000 was exceptional. Without it we wouldn't be where we are today (and the hackers that originally got DX 8 working in it).

Vista? yeah at first it was terrible. Now though? I actually really like it. It's like a posh looking XP and works brilliantly. The only mistake Microsoft made was releasing it onto PCs that were nowhere near capable of running it properly.

7 was really good, but has become bad. It does not support more than 4 cores and the only fix is a core parking bodge. It also doesn't work properly on any I7s, as well as the entire AMD range. Microsoft could have fixed this, but simply couldn't be bothered because they want you on 8 spending money in the marketplace.

So far I prefer Windows 8 to Windows 10, but there's a long time to go yet before I make up my mind.

Must bust a mention for Windows Multiple Errors though.

I agree with you about Windows 98 1st edition that suck they kinda fix it a little bit with the 2nd edition.

 

[Kilbane]

Nice little write up there dude. May we all stare into the "anals" (sic) of time

 

[Wraith]

I think (hope!) you meant 'annals' of time and space....

Nice little write up there dude. May we all stare into the "anals" (sic) of time

Yes yes I meant Annals, it was my Auto Carrot, which made my donkey upset. Glad you guys enjoyed it, and yes 98 SE was the best OS.

 

[AlienALX]

Yes yes I meant Annals, it was my Auto Carrot, which made my donkey upset. Glad you guys enjoyed it, and yes 98 SE was the best OS.

98, even SE still suffered the old problems though. An install would be fine for a few months, then the registry starts getting bogged down and there wasn't much you could do about it. Windows NT (which deserves a mention btw) was always far better in that regard, but you couldn't game on/in it.

That's why Windows 2000 IMO was the most important OS they ever launched. NT based, supported more than one CPU and ended up being Windows XP (XP was just Windows 2000 with a prettier front end bolted on, kinda like Windowblinds).

As soon as DX8 was officially released for Win 2k the older FAT system was finally dumped for good.

Oh and I forgot to mention. Windows 2000 also had Virtual IQs, Windows 98 didn't. Win 2k finally put an end to hardware conflicts.

Seriously, 2k was a serious, serious bit of work. Microsoft's finest hour IMO.

 

[Dawelio]

I'm still on 8.1, not sure wether to go onto 10... Should I folks? Heard mixed thoughts on it recently and so on, so not pulled the trigger on it yet.

And how does it really work, upgrading from 8.1 to 10?... Will the "old" OS still be on the drive and then 10 will install on top of it?... Or will 10 "erase" 8.1 and then install itself with all of your crap on the drive? :huh:...

As I must admit, windows 10 does look really nice in the OP... Is that what it looks like or is it Wraith's own custom desktop?...

 

[Excalabur50]

I still remember installing early Windows via floppies and the like and as it progressed the more floppies you needed and then came the revolution Windows 95 on CD!

 

[Kleptobot]

I remember using some flavor of DOS with a GUI when i was really young but my first windows was 95. Came loaded with demo's for doom and duke nukem 3D.

 

[jimma47]

I still remember installing early Windows via floppies and the like and as it progressed the more floppies you needed and then came the revolution Windows 95 on CD!

First PC I used had two giant floppy drives. 8" Was the late 70s early 80s. Actually I think that was the first computer I ever saw that wasn't a giant data bank with tape to tape reels. (My uncle worked in the University Computer lab)
Then Apple II's and Macintosh's in the mid 80s at school, the ubiquitous BBC micro and didn't actually use Windows until Windows 3. It was all dos before that.
The first PC I actually bought was Win XP (2005). Then jumped to 7 on my first build and now running 10.

I would have to say 7 has been my favourite to use, however NT was rock solid for work. (Larger enterprises move slowly due to security and the amount of custom software) 10 is growing on me and a bit buggy still but give it time. I don't like the adds and suggested apps - I like control. I think it's the way the world is evolving though!

Edit - @Kleptobot it reminds me of the first games I played on PC. Mine was Test Drive. Bloody Mitsubishi Nimbus's (not sure what they're called in the rest of the world) always killed me. F-117 Stealth fighter was amazing for the time and Prince of Persia. Doom gave me motion sickness but man it was fun.

 

[Wraith]

So many of us oldies on here, remembering the good old days of 5.25" double sided disks :lol: those things were nuke proof. Did any of you guys have a Ziff or Jazz drive

I'm still on 8.1, not sure wether to go onto 10... Should I folks? Heard mixed thoughts on it recently and so on, so not pulled the trigger on it yet.

And how does it really work, upgrading from 8.1 to 10?... Will the "old" OS still be on the drive and then 10 will install on top of it?... Or will 10 "erase" 8.1 and then install itself with all of your crap on the drive? :huh:...

As I must admit, windows 10 does look really nice in the OP... Is that what it looks like or is it Wraith's own custom desktop?...

No fella this is my desktop

As for Windows 10, I love it once you get defender, updates and the sharing things (cortana, network updates & ad sharing) turned off it's golden. I upgraded from 8.1 Pro and it was a painless procedure even moves your old install to "windows old" folder. The great thing with the update is that should you not like it you can roll back (within 30 days).

 

[Excalabur50]

Hey Wraith do you remember the WE now present to you the new Windows 95/98? and it showed a blue screen of death? I can never seem to remember which one it was CRAFT you see.

 

[jimma47]

So many of us oldies on here, remembering the good old days of 5.25" double sided disks :lol: those things were nuke proof. Did any of you guys have a Ziff or Jazz drive

Double sided disks that you would put tape over to write protect like an old cassette tape.

As for Windows 10, I love it once you get defender, updates and the sharing things (cortana, network updates & ad sharing) turned off it's golden. I upgraded from 8.1 Pro and it was a painless procedure even moves your old install to "windows old" folder. The great thing with the update is that should you not like it you can roll back (within 30 days).

If it's not already on here somewhere a quick 'how to' guide or resources would be great for this. What do you use for security?

 

[Kushiro]

XP was and still is one of my favourite OS. Didn't gave all the nice looking albeit convenient features, but was very welcoming.

 

[Wraith]

What do you use for security?

I have C.O.M.O.D.O network solutions and a Malwarebytes subscription.

 

[Dawelio]

What do you use for security?

I have C.O.M.O.D.O network solutions and a Malwarebytes subscription.

Probably a bit off topic and something that may already exist and that also may be a bit too much work to do... But if you could perhaps do some kind of a "Security Guide" or something for Windows 10 etc?...

Like what programs you use, what you recommend, if you should setup schedules for them etc etc?... Just a thought, as I know that I would personally be really interested in it, in that case

 

[TheF34RChannel]

Nice summary man, brings back memories! I think I was the only person in the world that didn't have any issues with me...?